An historical episode from southwestern Africa (specifically present-day Namibia) in the early 20th century reveals the central themes of this study: identity, its significance, its power, and its roles; violence in its various physical and psychological forms; social and cultural change and trends; the encounter of race, ethnicity, nationalism, and globalization. In Namibia, there were two very powerful men, Samuel Mahareiro of the Herero ethnic group and Hendrik Witbooi of the Nama ethnic group. When Mahareiro became the supreme leader, even the Herero considered him incapable. He was submissive, dependent, and useless. He drank heavily, and if he wasn't an alcoholic, the alcoholic beverages were provided by Methodist missionaries, whom he flattered. Conversely, Witbooi, the supreme leader of the Nama, was proudly independent and unbound, intelligent, well-versed in several languages, and wrote poetry. The Nama regarded him as a charismatic leader and an expert in guerrilla warfare. He provoked the anger of the German colonists by refusing German protection and what it entailed: their dominance.

While all the other chiefs and high leaders (including Mahareiro) had accepted it, Witbooi continued to resist. In his diary, Witbooi wrote: “I refused to give up what is mine and only mine, which I am entitled to. I would not surrender my independence.” Ultimately, he organized a brief uprising against the Germans (in which he was defeated) and then, for pragmatic reasons, capitulated to the Europeans. Both men were victims of the first heinous genocide of the 20th century, organized and carried out by German colonists during their war against the Herero from 1904 to 1907. Although the word genocide was coined in 1944 (from the Greek word γένος and the Latin word cide meaning to kill), it was rightfully used retrospectively to describe the nightmare in Namibia and the atrocities against Armenians a decade later.